"Now, I know everybody in this little old town, and I had never seen him before in my life!" Hilda Fiddlebottom, the town's biggest busybody, told Chief Graham over the phone. "Plus he looked all suspicious like. So naturally I made sure to listen in to everything he was saying on his fancy cell phone."

"Naturally," replied Chief Graham.

"Well you are not going to believe this! Apparently he robbed a bank a few years back, and he hid the loot right here in our town! He said it was going to be tough, but he just had to retrieve it by midnight tonight! I didn't catch why. But he said he was heading back to the motel to gather up his supplies and go get his loot! There are only a few hours left before his midnight deadline! GO GET HIM CHIEF!!"

Chief Graham and Detective Jefferson sped over to the town's only motel, only to discover that it looked empty. But there were tire marks in the parking space in front of one of the rooms, as if someone had spun their tires taking off in a hurry.

"I bet that's his room. He must have heard us coming and fled. You probably shouldn't have blared your siren the whole way over here, Jefferson."

"Sorry Chief. I've just always wanted to use my siren! We don't get to see much action around here, you know?"

When they inspected his motel room, they discovered a curious array of equipment, half of which was packed into a very large, black duffel bag.

Jefferson looked at the chief and said "It looks like he was in the middle of packing up his supplies when he heard us and took off. We've got to find him! Maybe if we really analyze this equipment, we can figure out where he hid his loot. It looks pretty complicated. What do you think, Chief?"

"Well, this is the only evidence we have. Let's see if we can deduce where he's headed!"

Here were the supplies they found in and around the duffel bag:

A small folding step ladder; a can of WD-40; a roll of duct tape; two small tires, probably for a small lawn mower; a coil of thick, black nylon rope; some kind of gardening tool with a short, flat blade; a small blow torch; two empty Ziploc bags; a small air filter, possibly out of a vacuum cleaner; and a power drill.

After contemplating the items for a moment, Chief Graham laughed and said "I know exactly where's he's headed! If we hurry, we can catch him!

Hint

You are going to be SO mad about all the time you wasted analyzing each item that the bank robber was packing!Hide